Sunday, January 20, 2019

What people actually say before they die


Judge unseals trove of internal Facebook documents following our legal action Reveal.org (martha r). “How Facebook made money off children>.”

Murder lays bare Poland's ugly divide

The public stabbing murder of the Mayor of Gdansk could have profound political consequences as voters prepared for national elections later this year.


The woman who knew everybody
In my new Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, which I resume this week after a hiatus caused by Mrs. T’s recent illness, I write about the reissue of The Kindness of ... [read more]







Deathbed aphorisms and declarations of love for one’s country are exceptions or inventions. According to one doctor, the last words of the dying are often strings of curses; a hospice nurse says that most dying men call for ‘Mommy’ or ‘Mama’, if they can call at all. “At the end of life, the majority of interactions will be non-verbal as the body shuts down and the person lacks the physical strength for long utterances. People will whisper, and they’ll be brief, single words — that’s all they have energy for.”






How to live before you die - Marginal REVOLUTION







Going Inside The World’s Most Beautiful Bookstore



The bookstore in Argentina, which opened in a building modeled after the Paris Opera, won the title in 2019 – 18 years after NPR’s Bob Mondello first filed this report. – NPR







Stephen King Angrily Tweets At Paper For Cutting Book Reviews, And Then Boom



The paper, Maine’s Portland Press-Herald, tweeted that it would restart regional book reviews if King – a Maine writer, of course – could bring in 100 new subscriptions. As of Sunday, the number was at 200 and counting. – The New York Times






The End Of Authors? Hardly!



“The dictionary meanings of words are only potentially meaningful until they are actually employed in a context defined by the relation between author and audience. So how did it happen that professors of literature came to renounce authors and their intentions in favor of a way of thinking — or at least a way of talking — that is without historical precedent, has scant philosophical support, and is to most ordinary readers not only counterintuitive but practically incomprehensible?” – Los Angeles Review of Books





The Latest Reading Accessory Is A Candle (Or Twelve)



Reading: It’s a lifestyle thing. “Candles are also now a common impulse purchase at independent bookstores, along with tote bags and coffee. There are shelves upon shelves of literary-themed ones at the Strand in New York, which famously brags of 18 miles of books.” – The New York Times





The 26 weirdest government stories of 2018



Apolitical

Did you hear about the cybersecurity minister who has never touched a computer? Or the government website that will teach you to roll a joint?


What’s the cure for a toxic work culture?



SmartCompany

The challenge is there is no one-size-fits-all formula for creating an ideal work environment, or for curing a culture gone sour.